2000
#139,757
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 110
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Loehle
A variant of the German surname derived from a location name or homestead.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 133 Americans carry the last name Loehle. That puts it at #145,028 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,577,100 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Loehle surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
133
1 in 2,577,100
Census rank
#145,028
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
116
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 116 bearers of the surname Loehle in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 145028th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Loehle, the largest self-reported group is White at 83.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.8%) and Black (1.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Loehle
The surname Loehle is of German origin, originating in the region of Bavaria during the late medieval period. It is derived from the Old High German word "loh," which means "a clearing in the woods." This suggests that the name may have referred to someone who lived near or worked in a forested area.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Loehle can be found in a document from the town of Augsburg, dated 1492. In this record, a man named Hans Loehle is mentioned as a landowner in the area. It is likely that his family had settled in the region generations earlier, as surnames were becoming more common during this time period.
Another early reference to the name comes from the Kirchenbücher (church records) of the village of Dornstetten, located in the Black Forest region of Baden-Württemberg. These records, dating back to the late 16th century, mention several individuals with variations of the spelling, such as Löhle and Loehl.
One notable bearer of the Loehle name was Johannes Loehle, a scholar and theologian who lived from 1555 to 1628. He was born in the town of Markgröningen, near Stuttgart, and went on to become a professor of theology at the University of Tübingen. His written works on biblical exegesis and theology were widely read in his time.
In the 18th century, a family of Loehles resided in the town of Freudenstadt, also located in the Black Forest region. Among them was Johann Friedrich Loehle, a clockmaker and craftsman who was born in 1724 and died in 1798. His son, Johann Georg Loehle (1760-1832), continued the family trade and became a respected maker of clocks and timepieces.
Another notable figure was Karl Loehle, a German-American artist born in Wiesbaden in 1874. He emigrated to the United States in the late 19th century and became known for his landscape paintings, particularly those depicting scenes of the American West. His works are housed in various museums and galleries across the country.
While the surname Loehle is not among the most common in Germany, it has a rich history that can be traced back several centuries to its roots in the forested regions of southern Germany. The name's connection to the natural landscape and the occupations of those who bore it provide a glimpse into the lives of these individuals and the times in which they lived.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Loehle
Among Census respondents with the surname Loehle, the largest self-reported group is White at 83.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.8%) and Black (1.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Loehle bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Loehle surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.6% · 97
- Hispanic or Latino13.8% · 16
- Black or African American1.7% · 2
- Two or more races0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Loehle
Loehle appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#141,140
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 118
+8 bearers (+7.3%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 1,383 places
2020
#145,028
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 116
-2 bearers (-1.7%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 3,888 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #139,757 | 110 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #141,140 | 118 | 0.04 | +8 bearers (+7.3%) | Down 1,383 places |
| 2020 | #145,028 | 116 | 0.04 | -2 bearers (-1.7%) | Down 3,888 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Loehle surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #141,140 | #145,028 | -2.8% |
| Count | 118 | 116 | -1.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -3.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Loehle bearers went from 118 to 116 (-1.7% change). The surname moved down 3,888 positions in the national ranking, going from #141,140 to #145,028.
FAQ
Loehle surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Loehle?
Name Census estimates that about 133 living Americans carry the surname Loehle. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,577,100 residents.
How common is Loehle?
Loehle ranks #145,028 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 116 people with the surname Loehle. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (133), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Loehle.
Has Loehle become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Loehle went from 118 recorded bearers to 116. That is a decrease of 2 (-1.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #141,140 to #145,028.
What does the Census say about the background of Loehle?
Among Census respondents with the surname Loehle, the largest self-reported group is White at 83.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.8%) and Black (1.7%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Loehle in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.6% (97 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Loehle appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (83.6%), Hispanic (13.8%), Black (1.7%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Loehle (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Loehle mean?
A variant of the German surname derived from a location name or homestead. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Loehle (0.04 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people are called Loehle?
Want to know how many people have the surname Loehle? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.